Survival – The Mollusc, Recognising the ‘Animal  Kingdom’ – Vol. I
By Rajan Sankaran & Sudhir Baldota.
Homoeopathic Medical Publishers, Mumbai, India, 2008,
paperback 432 pages,  Pound 53.00

 Reviewed by Alison Fixsen

Alison Fixsen MA RSHom, PGGE, has been involved in research and taught extensively.  She is a co-founder/teacher and supervisor for Salisbury Homeopathic College and a senior lecturer at the University of Westminster.  Alison lives in Wiltshire where she practices alongside her husband Chris Fixsen.  E-mail:

Survival is a collaborative project between Rajan Sankaran and Sudhir Baldota, with varied contributions from Anna Schadde, Peter Tumminello, Anne Wirtz, Linda Johnson, Dinesh Chauhan, Antonia de Souza and others.

A departure from more recent books by Sankaran, the focus here is entirely on one phylum, the Mollusca, taken from his unique homeopathic perspective and the first of a promised series.  After a forward by Anne Schadde, we are given a clear and relatively concise explanation of the case taking approach according to kingdom classification, and how to recognize the ‘animal song’ through carefully observing, recording and translating the renditions of our patients.  This is followed by an introduction to the Mollusca, with exaples of ‘expressions’ of these species, which come to light in a patient’s case.

The underlying rationale for studying and considering classification in this way is that ‘sources closely related to one another in the natural world express similar sensations’.
This is a very interesting account of an aspect of marine biology, with systematic thorough background research into the classes and subclasses of the Mollusca.  We are treated to a journey into the life of Bivalvia, Gastropodia, Cephalopoda, and a general summary of the classes.  This uniquely combines with clear illustrations of cases in which the sensation method was successfully applied.

The use of key words and expressions in bold type links the animal physiology with symptoms from homoeopathic provings, and those which emerged empirically through real expressions and gestures made by patients.  We are shown how the global and local symptoms of a kingdom connect and how the animal experience is expressed through a human voice.

There are case examples from various homoeopaths, followed by an explanation of important words, phrases and rubrics, and their association with the group and subgroup under consideration.  One drawback for researching topics further, is the absence of referencing or bibliography, although acknowledgements is paid in the text; this should not deter teachers, homeopaths and sutdnets from using this book, as it is one of the best of its type.  Students unfamiliar with the method will probably find this book more useful if they first study previous books including Sensation Refined, containing a more extensive explanation of this way of working and thinking.  The clarity of writing makes this accessible to students at all levels, who will be delighted to gain new understanding of classical remedies such as Calcarea carbonia and Sepia and an introduction to new provings of remedies including Pearl Immersion, Cowrie Shell and Nautilus.

In recent years a range of books has been published focusing on the study of remedies according to kingdom classification.  This book is a very useful addition to the genre.